2 city builders first to register under RERA

A Mumbai-based developer and a Thane builder are probably among the first in the

country to register their project under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA),

which came into effect on May 1.

Nayan Shah of Mayfair Housing was the first to upload his project plans online

on the MahaRera website on Monday . He was followed by Rajan Bandelkar of

Raunak Group, Thane and 10 property brokers, said Gautam Chatterjee, who holds

interim charge of the state regulator.

Chatterjee, who heads a 20-member team from a makeshift office in the Slum

Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building in Bandra East, said all the applications will

be registered in the next few days.

As mandated, the developers have to upload details about their experience over

the past five years, estimated project cost, money incurred and flats sold so far and

Escrow bank account number, among other things. The law also says a builder has

to submit an affidavit that the project information furnished by him while applying

for registration is correct and RERA-compliant.

Shah told TOI that it took around 90 minutes to upload the documents of his

ongoing project, Mayfair Vishwaraja, comprising 198 of the 298 apartments in

Titwala (East). We have withdrawn all the bro chures and sale plans till the project is

registered, he said. Bandelkar applied for his project, id. Bandelkar applied for his

project, Unnathi Woods, at Thane's Ghodbunder Road. It includes two buildings with

234 flats. The MahaRERA website is very user-friendly, operated by the KPMG team

and mahaonline. There is no human interaction at all, he said.

Developers have been warned that any misleading or false data will lead to

heavy penalties and criminal action under the new law, said Chatterjee.

The state RERA office has four wings: finance, legal, technical and

administration and IT. Builders have now gotten over the initial shock of sharing
their project information publicly. Hopefully , the new law will bring in self-discipline

in the indust ry. If the project is compliant, no developer will have to step into this

offi ce, he added.

Every builder now has to register the project before he starts any form of

advertising, marketing, booking, selling, offer for selling or inviting people to

purchase plots, apartment or buildings.

Before applying for registration, the layout of the real estate project has to be

approved by the local authority like the BMC. However, the developer may include

some buildings in his application of registration where apartments are proposed and

the building approvals are pending, according to RERA rules. If any promoter fails to

register as per the Act, he shall be liable to a penalty which may extend up to ten

per cent of the estimated cost of the real estate project.On continued violation, rules

stipulate he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up

to three years or with fine which may extend up to a further ten per cent of the

estimated cost of the project, or with both.